In a press conference, LAPD spokesman Andy Smith denied multiple reports claiming that the body of fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was found inside a burned out cabin near California’s Big Bear Mountain. Smith said the smoldering cabin is still “simply too hot” for authorities to investigate the scene and said it could still take several days for authorities to fully investigate the scene and identify Dorner’s body, if it is in fact found on the scene.

“That was a mistake. If someone said it was all-clear two hours ago, that was a mistake,” Smith told reporters, adding that the LAPD planned to hold another press conference Wednesday morning.

Calculated in real 2012 dollars, the 1968 minimum wage was the highest at $10.51. The real dollar minimum wage (red squares) falls during periods Congress does not raise the minimum wage to keep up with inflation. The minimum wage increased in three $0.70 increments—to $5.85 in July, 2007, $6.55 in July, 2008, and to $7.25 in July 2009. The 2012 minimum wage is equal to what was paid in 1960.
[Link: oregonstate.edu…]

What happens is you raise the minimum wage but along with that the price of goods and services and rent goes up along with it. It’s really not that simple. It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation. I realize that liberals want it to seem that simple, but that’s just not the case.

What happens is you raise the minimum wage but along with that the price of goods and services and rent goes up along with it. It’s really not that simple. It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation. I realize that liberals want it to seem that simple, but that’s just not the case.

Everytime you raise the cost of running a business you wind up raising the cost of good. It’s adjusted. Democrats want you to believe that you can raise the minimum wage and it won’t have an affect down the line. That’s simply not the case. Your boss won’t sell his house to pay you more. Your boss will simply raise the cost of his goods and services. Which means the people for whom you’ve raised their wages will have to pay more for those same good and services. Net gain? Zero.

What happens is you raise the minimum wage but along with that the price of goods and services and rent goes up along with it. It’s really not that simple. It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation. I realize that liberals want it to seem that simple, but that’s just not the case.

The question I would then ask (because I don’t want to put words in your mouth): do you think it’s possible to have a living wage where, if both parents in the family* are working 40 hours a week, the family could have a lifestyle above the federal poverty line?

* This is leaving aside issues of both single-parent families and states where minimum income requirements exceed the poverty line. Hi CA.

What happens is you raise the minimum wage but along with that the price of goods and services and rent goes up along with it. It’s really not that simple. It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation. I realize that liberals want it to seem that simple, but that’s just not the case.

I think this is true, but not to as great as an extent as conventional wisdom has it. There’s been more than one economic study that I recall that shows that the rise in prices is not as fast/high as the rise in wages.

Everytime you raise the cost of running a business you wind up raising the cost of good. It’s adjusted. Democrats want you to believe that you can raise the minimum wage and it won’t have an affect down the line. That’s simply not the case. Your boss won’t sell his house to pay you more. Your boss will simply raise the cost of his goods and services. Which means the people for whom you’ve raised their wages will have to pay more for those same good and services. Net gain? Zero.

Sorry but you clearly know very little about this.

Something is worth what someone will pay for it - no more, no less. Do you think that I have chosen the price of my goods willy nilly? Of course not, I set prices based on what people are willing to pay for my goods and services. If I think people would pay more for it then I would charge more for it regardless of what I pay my employees

The question I would then ask (because I don’t want to put words in your mouth): do you think it’s possible to have a living wage where, if both parents in the family* are working 40 hours a week, the family could have a lifestyle above the federal poverty line?

* This is leaving aside issues of both single-parent families and states where minimum income requirements exceed the poverty line. Hi CA.

ETA: removed an extraneous space that snuck in there.

I think it’s difficult because Americans are very competitive. We worship murderers like Ray Lewis.

Everytime you raise the cost of running a business you wind up raising the cost of good. It’s adjusted. Democrats want you to believe that you can raise the minimum wage and it won’t have an affect down the line. That’s simply not the case. Your boss won’t sell his house to pay you more. Your boss will simply raise the cost of his goods and services. Which means the people for whom you’ve raised their wages will have to pay more for those same good and services. Net gain? Zero.

The cost of goods is determined by what the market will bear, your analysis like all supply side analysis of the minimum wage, ignores demand and competition. Just because people want to maximize profits doesn’t mean they always can by increasing prices. We’ve gotten so used to the growing disparity between the top and bottom that we construct false narratives about owners having to sell houses, as if they might actually go homeless rather than live on what was historically more than enough.

I think it’s difficult because Americans are very competitive. We worship murderers like Ray Lewis.

With all due respect, I’m not sure what Ray Lewis has to do with anything about economics, and I’m kind of confused.

I’ll agree, Americans are competitive and it would result in an increase drive towards foreign goods unless action is taken in that direction, although the form and consequence of that action hasn’t really been discussed much, I agree. Although the argument of increased buying power also factors into this.

Yesterday, Houston’s striking janitors reached a tentative agreement with six of the seven companies who employ them to clean some of the city’s swankiest offices. The agreement, to be ratified on Saturday, ensures them a 12% raise. It ends more than two months of public demonstrations, strikes, and sometimes-risky civil disobedience.

The janitors’ previous contract, which expired at the end of May, gave them $8.35 an hour. The union, Service Employees International Union Local 1, pointed out that Chicago janitors, some employed by the same contractors, made $15.45 an hour, and sought a raise of $1.65 per hour over three years. The contractors called this unreasonable and countered with an offer of $.50 over five years.

Under the new contract, janitors will receive a raise of one dollar per hour installed over the next four years.
[Link: www.texasobserver.org…]

I think the law firms, banks and oil companies that pay for their services are not going to feel the increase too badly.

…Texas’ anti-union sentiment also has its roots in the very concrete strategy of attracting outside industries to take advantage of cheap labor—a tactic that has worked well in this border state, with Mexico providing us a steady stream of exploitable employees. New York-based companies like ABM, Pritchard and JP Morgan Chase are all contractors of the Houston janitors that, until yesterday, refused to increase the paltry $9,000 a year average wage for janitors.[Link: www.texasobserver.org…]

Huckleberry Closetcase decided to vent to the press about his anger over Reid saying he won’t honor any holds put on Hagel’s nomination. He’s now calling on all Senate Republicans to fall on their swords by joining him in filibustering the vote until he’s “satisfied” about Benghazi.

Huckleberry Closetcase decided to vent to the press about his anger over Reid saying he won’t honor any holds put on Hagel’s nomination. He’s now calling on all Senate Republicans to fall on their swords by joining him in filibustering the vote until he’s “satisfied” about Benghazi.

Next up, the GOP swears to hold their breath until Obama self-impeachs

Speaking from experience, wages are not the be-all end-all in regards to business profitability. There are a million ways to reduce waste in operations before getting to the point of reducing wages to stay in business. It is a better approach to have fewer people who are kept productive and are well paid than it is to just slash wages and keep too many people on board.

In my business an American factory will have 6 employees on a particular operation making $25 an hour. Same operation in Thailand, 40 employees making $2 an hour. So the wages are less in the low scale country true, but each of those employees needs a uniform, materials, ventilation, line space, etc. and big surprise but too many people generally produce worse quality and now you get into big money repairing goods once they are manufactured.

Also, in the low wage countries, the transportation and energy infrastructures are lacking, energy costs are sky high, regulations are not consistent, the legal systems can be corrupt, and those factors increase overall costs as well.

Wages aren’t everything and the less people know about business the more importance they place on them.

For the record, I’m not disagreeing with you that he is a scumbag or a disgrace to humanity. But since you replied without actually addressing my question, I think it’s fair to ask again:

The question I would then ask (because I don’t want to put words in your mouth): do you think it’s possible to have a living wage where, if both parents in the family* are working 40 hours a week, the family could have a lifestyle above the federal poverty line?

* This is leaving aside issues of both single-parent families and states where minimum income requirements exceed the poverty line. Hi CA.

Also, if I said or did something to offend you, I’m sorry. It genuinely wasn’t my intent. I’m new, I lurked awhile before posting, but I probably didn’t have the full lay of the land before I said hi and I have tried to avoid stepping on toes. Well, stabby excluded, but I think that’s fair after some of the responses.

Boehner’s face tonight had all the appearance of that guy in the office who gets a stack of work dropped on his desk and told that he has a strict deadline to abide by, with failure to do all the work reflecting on him and him alone.

The Republican response was bad, I was saying:
“liar”
“liar”
“fucking liar”
“bullshit”
“fuck you”
“liar”
and so on over and over while I listened, but that was NOTHING compared with the Tea Party response.

I got a few minutes past the “a one cent cut on every dollar spent would balance the budget” lie and gave up.

Every damn word out of their mouths is a BIG fucking lie. How do these people sleep at night?

Rising GOP start Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) fell victim to the long-standing Obama rebuttal curse tonight, as he awkwardly reached for a drink of water from an off-camera bottle mid-speech.

“In the short time I’ve been here in Washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the ones the President laid out tonight,” Rubio said. He then reached for a water bottle and drank while staring at the camera, then continued. “The choice isn’t just between big government or big business.”

It led to a moment of levity for many in an otherwise uninspiring speech that focused on the importance of small government and the President’s supposed plan to increase the size of government (with no acknowledgment that President George W. Bush led the largest expansion of the federal government since World War II).

I have to agree with them, if it hadn’t been for the constant face-touching and the drink of water, Rubio’s speech would have been utterly forgettable. Like I said downstairs, he did well if you think that getting through the speech without falling over is an accomplishment. Otherwise, it was utter disaster of a cookie-cutter speech that anybody could have given. If this was supposed to be the beginning of his rise to the ‘16 nomination, then he’s got a long way to go.

I have to agree with them, if it hadn’t been for the constant face-touching and the drink of water, Rubio’s speech would have been utterly forgettable. Like I said downstairs, he did well if you think that getting through the speech without falling over is an accomplishment. Otherwise, it was utter disaster of a cookie-cutter speech that anybody could have given. If this was supposed to be the beginning of his rise to the ‘16 nomination, then he’s got a long way to go.

The point of a rebuttal speech is to get people to question the President and offer an alternative for people to talk about.

Just before President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union address, Jon Stewart found himself enraged by former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticisms of the President aired on CBS. Among other things, Cheney called Obama’s policies flawed and said he was trying to hurt America’s reputation in the world and take the country “down a peg.”

“You know,” said Stewart, “Cheney’s really confident in his opinions and analysis, probably forgetting that he sucked at this.”

The cost of goods is determined by what the market will bear, your analysis like all supply side analysis of the minimum wage, ignores demand and competition. Just because people want to maximize profits doesn’t mean they always can by increasing prices. We’ve gotten so used to the growing disparity between the top and bottom that we construct false narratives about owners having to sell houses, as if they might actually go homeless rather than live on what was historically more than enough.

Hm, yes. It’s not like the price charged the customer is actually staying the same in all case—they have to be going up because there’s steady price inflation over the years (while wages remain the same). A raise in minimum wage could just as easily restore lost buying power and increase the amount of goods bought elsewhere.

Sen. Linsdey Graham (R-SC) said Tuesday night that he was very disappointed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) threat not to honor his “hold” on the confirmation of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense.

“I’m very disappointed,” Graham told a small group of reporters after the president’s State of the Union speech. “I’m very upset about it and I’m going to fight back.”

Paul said that Obama should have learned from 18th century philosopher Adam Smith, author of The Wealth Of Nations. Though conservatives like Paul frequently cite Smith to justify their opposition to new regulations, Smith actually said that regulations on banks were as important as fire codes and other safety regulations. As Paul Krugman notes, he even supported banning high-risk, high-interest loans, similar to today’s subprime lending.

Charred human remains have been found in the burned cabin where police believe fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was holed up after trading gunfire with law enforcement, authorities said.

If the body is identified to be Dorner’s, the standoff would end a weeklong manhunt for the ex-LAPD officer and Navy reserve lieutenant, who is accused of going on a revenge-fueled spree following his firing by the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago. Four people have died allegedly at Dorner’s hands.

Got to figure it will be a couple days before they can confirm a preliminary ID based off of dental or maybe a finger print if one is recoverable. A DNA test will probably take a while longer.

What happens is you raise the minimum wage but along with that the price of goods and services and rent goes up along with it. It’s really not that simple. It’s sort of a Catch 22 situation. I realize that liberals want it to seem that simple, but that’s just not the case.

The price of goods is not directly related to the minimum wage; this is amply demonstrated by any look at prices of goods and wages over the past twenty years.

Apropos of nothing, here’s one place where Poland Spring water comes from:

In June 2003, Poland Spring was sued for false advertising in a class action lawsuit charging that their water that supposedly comes from springs, is in fact heavily treated common ground water.[9] The suit also states, hydro-geologists hired by Nestlé found that another current source for Poland Spring water near the original site stands over a former trash and refuse dump, and below an illegal disposal site where human sewage was sprayed as fertilizer for many years.[9]

In fact, Nestle derives a lot of their water from (gasp) public water sources. One of their large “manufacturing” plants has been in the news for drawing public water during a heavy drought.

Even as the flames begin to die down at the Big Bear Lake, California cabin where suspected quadruple murderer and former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner is believed to have been cornered by authorities, supporters of his rage-and-revenge-fueled quest against the LAPD have already set up a site dedicated to airing what they believe is the truth about the week-long manhunt in putsuit of Dorner.

Christopher-Dorner.com has an online poll asking viewers whether police or Dorner set the fire which is believed to have taken his life. As of 9:16 p.m. on Tuesday, 568 people or 78% of all poll respondents said they believed authorities had set the fire. 56% of respondents to a previous poll indicated that they believed Dorner would survive his encounter with the authorities.

Despite Rubio’s amateurish flubs in his speech, two things I found really frightening were:

1. His opening remarks about how the Federal Government is bad included a horrid misstatement that it was the Federal Government’s fault that the economy crashed. Um, I was fairly sure that the whole credit default swap thing was the cause of this mess, and last I checked, the feds didn’t run to AIG asking it to ensure toxic subprime mortgages; Bear, Chase, Merrill Lynch and Goldman were.

2. The GOP still thinks that because Solyndra was a joke, any R&D into alternative energy should not be pursued but we should drill the shit out of the planet for oil and if we kill some sea turtles along the way, oh well, its good for shareholders.

It never ceases to amaze me that people will vote for people to run the government who hate the government,while drawing a paycheck from the hated government (not to mention the other benefits and perks they have no problem taking). That’s like hiring a babysitter that hates kids. A chef who hates cooking, a dog trainer who prefers cats. It’s stupid.

Some pics from our dream Carnival Cruise
[Link: www.dailymail.co.uk…]
So romantic, yellow waterfalls in the Gulf.

I’m always astounded by the sheer volume of fluff on the Mail’s right sidebar. It’s ho-hum to have “celeb outfit cleavage” links, but when you put a bazillion of them together like that it’s almost like a new, spontaneous artform.

I place “met” in quotes because at the time I didn’t realize who it was.

At that time I owned a small business that sold/ installed. maintained satellite dish systems (pre- Direct TV) for bars, restaurants/ hotels/ homes. Whitey was the silent owner of South Boston’s Triple O’s bar (amongst others). I went there one day to sell them a dish and the guy I was pitching it to walked me over to a booth and intor’d me to his ‘partner” Without getting up from the table, he shook my hand, asked how much the system would be ($2500 installed) , reaching into his pocket and said “10% discount for cash, right?” and handed me the money on the spot

As JeffFX pointed out to me, the article is behind a paywall so apologies for that. If you have access to BostonGlobe.com or have never visited, you’ll likely be able to access, good read for those interested.

As JeffFX pointed out to me, the article is behind a paywall so apologies for that. If you have access to BostonGlobe.com or have never visited, you’ll likely be able to access, good read for those interested.

“Mr. President, I don’t oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich, I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors.”

Except that Rubio’s neighbors are the same rich folks. Spinning doesn’t ignore the core existential questions facing the GOP. The GOP has alienated entire segments of the population with its mesage of misogyny and exclusion.

Putting a shiny new face on the stage wont fix that.

Economic growth and taxes can go hand in hand. Higher taxes were the norm under President Clinton, and yet tax cuts didn’t bring in higher revenues under President Bush. Taxes were higher during the 1950s and 1960s, even as there was an economic boon. Taxes don’t completely correlate with economic growth and economic vitality.

And yet, the GOP recognizes that the sequester (which they voted for) is a bad thing for the economy and something that they’re trying to pin on Obama, because it would result in cuts in government spending across the board and result in job losses and spending cuts that affect private businesses as well. Their solution is to try and shield military spending from the cuts, but it’s a tacit recognition that government spending can be a good thing - it’s just that the GOP differs from Democrats on where and how the spending should be done.

Frankly, the one part of the President’s speech that needs to be hammered home is the infrastructure portion. A completely dedicated infrastructure bill would serve to create jobs, rehabilitate critical infrastructure, and expand transit and utility needs around the nation. It should come with a concurrent effort to reduce the costs for constructing big projects (like narrowing the cost differential between a tunnel project in Europe versus a similar project in the US). For instance, one of the most daring and daunting tunnel projects in Europe, the Gotthard Base Tunnel that will open in 2016, stretches 35 miles and change (and includes about 90 miles of tunnels in total), costs about $10 billion.

Two of the biggest tunnel projects in the US are in NYC. The 2d Avenue subway is about $3.4 billion for the first phase, which stretches for all of 3 miles. That’s more than any comparable expansion of the Paris, Berlin, or London subway systems (which are themselves comparable in size/scope/population density). The East Side Access is another tunnel project that is wildly over budget at $8.4 billion. It will provide the LIRR with access to Grand Central Terminal in a new concourse under the existing station platforms. That project has seen multiple delays, and a cost that ballooned from an initial estimate of $3 billion to $6.4 billion to $8.4 billion. These kinds of costs and overruns mean that the money gets tied up and can’t go to other deserving projects to maintain and upgrade the system.

On a practical level, it means that we just can’t build like we used to because there’s not the money to go around, and critical needs get deferred. All that will come back to bite us in the end with a loss of competitiveness.

Now, some GOPers will bristle at the need to spend more on mass transit or infrastructure in places like NY, MA, CA, NJ, IL, FL, and even TX and AZ but fact is that’s where the people are and it requires a whole lot of money to build out an infrastructure that can move those kinds of crowds. Roads alone can’t do it (see the perpetual traffic jams and congestion in roads around LA or even Atlanta).

Thus, it’s critical to get the construction costs down all while pushing for a major expansion of infrastructure projects. At a time when borrowing costs are at an all time low, there’s no better time to get these projects underway.

Another effort at maintaining economic competitiveness? Universal pre-K. That shouldn’t have opposition from the GOP, but we know that it will because you’ve got the socons and wingnuts who are against any kind of schooling that they can’t completely manipulate and spin for their agenda.

Worst. Product placement. Ever. Some marketing genius said, “It’s going to be great, Marco Rubio will take a drink of water in his speech and we’ll be the water!” then he set the table four feet to the left.

By any sensible measure, Rubio’s entire pitch was incoherent gibberish. He thinks President Obama is hostile to free enterprise and wants to increase the deficit, neither of which makes any sense. Rubio thinks the housing crisis was caused by big government, which is simply idiotic. Rubio celebrates his family’s history of dependence on government social programs like student loans and Medicare, while articulating a policy agenda that guts government social programs like student loans and Medicare.

Forget ideology, subjectivity, and areas of opinion — the fact is Marco Rubio’s speech was filled with a series of claims with no meaningful connection to reality. The senator even thinks combating the climate crisis means asking government to “control the weather,” which is just genuinely dumb.

I know many of the folks watching Rubio’s right-wing infomercial kept asking, “What’s wrong with the guy’s mouth?” but I kept wondering, “What planet is this guy living on?”

Worst. Product placement. Ever. Some marketing genius said, “It’s going to be great, Marco Rubio will take a drink of water in his speech and we’ll be the water!” then he set the table four feet to the left.

Brings a whole new meaning to “product placement”, doesn’t it?

To be honest, though, if Rubio isn’t smart enough to make sure his water’s within reach before starting to talk, you’ve got to wonder if he can really handle negotiating with Putin’s rearing head.

It says an awful lot about the current state of the Republican party that in their past 2 highly publicized events (the convention and SOTU rebuttal), an inanimate object has been the highlight of the show; a chair in one, a water bottle in the other.

We watched the speech in a bar, and the bartender refused to turn up the volume, so I played the stream over my phone (about 2 minutes off)…but we knew when big moments were coming because John Boehner would sink lower in his chair. I think he lost a couple of inches during the speech due to slouching.

We watched the speech in a bar, and the bartender refused to turn up the volume, so I played the stream over my phone (about 2 minutes off)…but we knew when big moments were coming because John Boehner would sink lower in his chair. I think he lost a couple of inches during the speech due to slouching.

I’m actually sorry I didn’t watch the SOTU and the Waterboy sequel live. It really sounds like Boehner would have embarrased a 4 year-old with his behavior.

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Louisiana State University .

On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephants foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot.

The elephant turned to face the man and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenaged son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly.

Probably wasn’t the same fucking elephant.

This is for everyone who sends me those heart-warming bullshit stories.

What Fix It First is all about (resetting infrastructure priorities to get everything up to a state of good repair before expanding infrastructure and requiring a different calculus in cost-benefit analysis):

What Fix It First really is all about - resetting infrastructure priorities to focus on keeping state of good repairbrookings.edu/~/media/resear…

Oi, I had no idea what that was until a few years ago. Somebody came into work with the ‘ashes’ on their forehead. (creepy religious stuff, simulating eating his body, drinking his blood, then wearing the ashes or whatever that represents…) So of course dingleberry me says “you should go into the bathroom because you got some shit on your forehead you should clean off. Looks like grease or something.”

Best thing about ash Wednesday are the Fish fry dinners. And the Pączki on Tuesday. :P

Had a nice pancake & sausage supper at my little Episcopal church last night. I’ll go in for the 1:00PM service today I think. A silent cross of ash on my forehead is a nice statement against the squealing of those who would loudly pretend their faith.

Oi, I had no idea what that was until a few years ago. Somebody came into work with the ‘ashes’ on their forehead. (creepy religious stuff, simulating eating his body, drinking his blood, then wearing the ashes or whatever that represents…) So of course dingleberry me says “you should go into the bathroom because you got some shit on your forehead you should clean off. Looks like grease or something.”

I also once said that to co-worker. Had no idea that smudge between the eyes.

Oi, I had no idea what that was until a few years ago. Somebody came into work with the ‘ashes’ on their forehead. (creepy religious stuff, simulating eating his body, drinking his blood, then wearing the ashes or whatever that represents…) So of course dingleberry me says “you should go into the bathroom because you got some shit on your forehead you should clean off. Looks like grease or something.”

I was raised Catholic, but we did the bare minimum. For years, I would see people walking around with the Holy Smudge on Ash Wednesday, and not put two and two together.

I found it to be “creepy religious stuff” when I actually believed in all that. Now that I’m done with religion, it just seems even weirder.

The grand prize went to a team from the California Institute of Technology, who coaxed a toilet into generating electricity and hydrogen.

The hydrogen comes from poop, which is transformed by an electrochemical reactor activated by solar power. The idea is that hydrogen will be stored in fuel cells, which can provide users with power in a crunch.

But perhaps the biggest boon, explains Carl Hensman, the Gates Foundations’ program officer for their water, sanitation, and hygiene team, is that the materials could be silk-screen printed in an electrochemical cell. The effort cuts costs on otherwise expensive parts. It’s this marriage of elements — an all-angles approach to a difficult design problem — that won them funding for the most successful new throne.

A co-worker saw a photo of my family on my desk and asked “are you Amish?” (we are Hasidic Jews). I said “Yeah that was my horse & buggy you saw in the parking garage!” I was working at GM as a VEHICLE ENGINEER.

We went out to lunch and I ordered an iced tea. A guy (from another GM facility, did not know I keep kosher) kept offering me fried shrimps from his plate. I said “No thank you, I’m on a diet.” He said (and I love this part, remember it so fondly) “BUT YOU’RE SO THIN!” LOL

I used to look forward to the smudge…going to Catholic school, I went to mass all the fucking time. Dad would drop us off early for school, so if it was cold out, we’d catch the 6:30am mass. Ash Wednesdays I’d get the smudge at 6:30 and be already smudged at 10am when we had school mass. Wore that smudge like a badge of honor…

2.50pm GMT update: The Daily Caller is claiming that “burner” is police slang for tear gas canister. More details soon.

3.50pm GMT update: The word “burner” may come from “BurnSafe” containers for CS gas canisters, made by the Covina-Thomas Company in Covina, California. On its website the company lists among its recent customers the LAPD, although not the San Bernardo County sheriff’s office. More details soon.

The whole incident goes against everything Carnival is trying to sell in their ad campaign that cruising is so much easier, relaxing, than other kinds of trips (amusement parks, national parks, etc.). Turns out that when the cruise ship works right, it’s often fine. But when a cruise ship goes wrong, it can get quite bad in a hurry - see Costa Concordia or the Carnival Triumph for how bad it can get.

When a structure is what we call “fully involved” - that is, the whole thing’s on fire - we are very, very, very unlikely to go in. We have to have extremely good reason to believe there’s someone alive in there.

Even then, it’s still an open question. The probability of saving a life has to be weight against the probability of losing a firefighter. Particulars of the building are evaluated. Some things pretty much eliminate all chances of firefighters entering a fully-involved structure:

We’ve got both in this situation. The police were ‘peeling the walls off’ before the fire started, so there’s a whole lot of structural compromise. And we know there was definitely a large quantity of live ammunition, and it’s likely that there were other explosives.

Firefighting gear is great, but it has limits. You can get burned through it at high enough temperatures. You can easily be scalded through it. You can be cut through it, and then badly burned through the resulting hole. You can be crushed through it. You can be trapped in it long enough to run out of air. All of these are serious dangers that fire departments have to consider each time they think about ordering firefighters into a burning structure. Recovering evidence for an investigation isn’t a good enough reason to make that call.

…

how many people did he kill today?

do you care about who he killed AT ALL?

or do you actually think that what happens to the killer is what is important?

here’s a fucking news flash for you: what is important are the PEOPLE HE KILLED AND KIDNAPPED AND TIED UP!!!

…

important if police try to kill a suspect
by starting fire….separate from what suspect did
but I get why you are pissed

too much sympathy for this guy in lots of places

..

For one thing, it’s not BREAKING. That video was shot much earlier in the day and had been widely available all afternoon.

You have no idea how the fire started.

But don’t let that stop you from donning your tinfoil lid and concluding that what you think happened actually happened.

Seems to me that it’s fair to think the police started the fire, given the tear gas grenades. Which of course is supposed to drive a suspect out making a fire a moot point. Unless that thing lands in a bathtub, it will probably start a fire. Conspiracy? Laughable. A gunman that dangerous is going to get maximum force for safety of everyone around. I guess this tape will so into the same crappy blogs that already have the Davidian video and bs. Ruby Ridge etc.

History has shown that the tactical community needs a better system for delivering Non-lethal pyrotechnic chemical agents when confronted with barricaded suspects. By their very nature pyrotechnic Non-lethal chemical agents can burn in excess of 1000 degrees and constitute an extreme fire hazard. A system is needed which would minimize the chance of starting fires. Through the development of the Burn Safe and Gas Rain, heavy concentrations of pyrotechnic Non-lethal chemical agents can be delivered efficiently with minimal probability of starting a fire. Both the Bum Safe and Gas Ram are multi-purpose tools. They enable tactical teams various ways to deal with barricaded suspects by delivering Non-lethal chemical agents into hardened structures. The systems are designed so that a delivery team can deploy the tools into the structure with minimal risk of starting a fire. The effectiveness of pyrotechnic CS over liquid or dry powder delivery systems has been proven historically. Pyrotechnic CS has effectively denied access to and forced individuals from fortified structures. Liquid and powder barricade penetrating projectiles have proven to be less effective in maintaining airborne persistency. They are potentially dangerous due to the ballistic capability of the projectile which could strike a suspect. The frangible projectiles often deploy their contents into drapes, furniture or embed into walls; thereby decreasing their effectiv

Apparently, they’re all that’s on the menu on Carnival Cruises these days.

Much of the ship’s electrical power went down in the fire, causing widespread malfunctions, including taking out sanitary systems.
Passengers have reported sewage sloshing around in hallways, flooded rooms and trouble getting enough to eat.
“It’s disgusting. It’s the worst thing ever,” passenger Ann Barlow told CNN

I think the police may have set fire to the house to get him to flee from it. Setting fire to the house is not an attempt to kill him; being in a burning house is very survivable by, say, leaving the house. If he chose to stay in it, he chose to stay in it. I have no problem with the cops setting the house on fire if they did.

There are people who think that the cops fully intended to kill him before bringing him in— the main reason for thinking this, I’d say, is that the LAPD shot the fuck out of a couple of pickups based on no actual threat. These were likely stupid, trigger-happy mistakes and not any actual policy. There are probably quite a few individual cops who’d shoot him without giving him much of a chance to surrender— I also don’t have a problem with that, either, since he was trying to wage ‘asymmetrical warfare’ and pretending to surrender could easily be a part of that.

Seems to me that it’s fair to think the police started the fire, given the tear gas grenades. Which of course is supposed to drive a suspect out making a fire a moot point. Unless that thing lands in a bathtub, it will probably start a fire. Conspiracy? Laughable. A gunman that dangerous is going to get maximum force for safety of everyone around. I guess this tape will so into the same crappy blogs that already have the Davidian video and bs. Ruby Ridge etc.

It’s possible that the fire was started by the tear gas canister but I’m pretty sure it’s very illegal for the police to intentionally set fire to a house. To use the police slang “burner” for tear gas as proof that the police intentionally set the fire is silly.

Here’s what’s confusing to me: They had a sister ship (i.e. another cruise ship) drop off some supplies to them recently.

Why couldn’t they have transferred the passengers to that ship (which you know had power and running water) and gotten them home faster?

Yes I know there’s logistics to consider and I know it would impact the vacationers aboard the other boat but surely there is enough space on a giant cruise ship to fit the passengers from both boats. If conditions on the damaged ship are as bad as indicated, I would think an evacuation would be a reasonable option.

It’s possible that the fire was started by the tear gas canister but I’m pretty sure it’s very illegal for the police to intentionally set fire to a house. To use the police slang “burner” for tear gas as proof that the police intentionally set the fire is silly.

Even if they’ve confirmed there’s a hostile criminal inside who has already wounded/killed several of their own?

Here’s what’s confusing to me: They had a sister ship (i.e. another cruise ship) drop off some supplies to them recently.

Why couldn’t they have transferred the passengers to that ship (which you know had power and running water) and gotten them home faster?

Yes I know there’s logistics to consider and I know it would impact the vacationers aboard the other boat but surely there is enough space on a giant cruise ship to fit the passengers from both boats. If conditions on the damaged ship are as bad as indicated, I would think an evacuation would be a reasonable option.

The problem is getting them between the boats. Panicky people going down ladders onto the lifeboats or whatever they have, right next to a big ship that’s lacking propulsion and guidance, is not good. Lowering the liferafts by winch is also not risk-free.

Here’s what’s confusing to me: They had a sister ship (i.e. another cruise ship) drop off some supplies to them recently.

Why couldn’t they have transferred the passengers to that ship (which you know had power and running water) and gotten them home faster?

Yes I know there’s logistics to consider and I know it would impact the vacationers aboard the other boat but surely there is enough space on a giant cruise ship to fit the passengers from both boats. If conditions on the damaged ship are as bad as indicated, I would think an evacuation would be a reasonable option.

I am sure there are insurance regs about accepting more passengers than the ship is legally licensed to carry, as well as logistics of ship to ship transfer. This ain’t the fucking Titanic.

Here’s what’s confusing to me: They had a sister ship (i.e. another cruise ship) drop off some supplies to them recently.

Why couldn’t they have transferred the passengers to that ship (which you know had power and running water) and gotten them home faster?

Yes I know there’s logistics to consider and I know it would impact the vacationers aboard the other boat but surely there is enough space on a giant cruise ship to fit the passengers from both boats. If conditions on the damaged ship are as bad as indicated, I would think an evacuation would be a reasonable option.

It would take them less than a day to ferry everyone back on another ship at full power. Four days? And you know the pool is filthy as well so there’s no bathing options whatsoever. If I was on that boat, I’d grab a deck chair and sleep on it. Take turns with whomever I was travelling with making drink and food runs. Pee over the side of the ship.

Here’s what’s confusing to me: They had a sister ship (i.e. another cruise ship) drop off some supplies to them recently.

Why couldn’t they have transferred the passengers to that ship (which you know had power and running water) and gotten them home faster?

Yes I know there’s logistics to consider and I know it would impact the vacationers aboard the other boat but surely there is enough space on a giant cruise ship to fit the passengers from both boats. If conditions on the damaged ship are as bad as indicated, I would think an evacuation would be a reasonable option.

Probably a complex set of safety concerns and design limitations leading to potential liability issues. And then a decision to not take the additional risk. (And I hope not simply a financial decision to not mess up the cruise of two shiploads of people as compared to one.)

And a large unpowered ship drifting (or even under tow) is a hazard to get close to and work with. Especially in open water with wave action and such affecting the use of boats. And I suspect the ability to get a gangway in place (which would still have considerable risks) is probably unlikely to impossible.

AS the LAPD surrounded the burning cabin containing former US Marine Reserve and alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner, police called for a worldwide Twitter blackout.

Conspiracy theories are mounting that the police in the San Bernardino County created their own version of events, trying at all costs to block journalists’ from accessing the scene to confirm how the events unfolded.

…Earlier today the US Marshal’s Service district chief Kurt Ellingson told CNN that “a suspect” tried to get out of the back door of the cabin, but he was pushed back inside. Twitter users jumped to many conclusions including allegations that police left Dorner to burn alive inside the cabin.
“Cops started the fire and now lying about it,” tweeted user @Anon4Justice. “Heard them on scanner one hour ago ‘Going forward with the burn’. #dorner”.

Another user @GeorgieBC wrote: “So US ‘authorities’ have apparently burnt someone to death in a cabin and let it burn through the basement so no body is left. #Dorner”.

She continued: “So police scanners were cut and media was told to stop filming then they lit the cabin on fire? Anyone ask for surrender? #Dorner.”
Another user @nicsha tweeted: “I don’t sympathise with murders but burning a man alive in a cabin who is ‘suspected to be a guy who might have killed’ is wrong #dorner”.

Hacking group Anonymous also weighed in, calling the police’s requests for silence “shady”.

“Note to media: If cops ask you to back away, it’s b/c they’re about to do something shady. It has nothing to do with your safety. #dorner,” @Occupythemob tweeted.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said that no one was allowed to go near the fire, including the fire department.

Twitter user, @DanjoLabeef tweeted: “‘Hey, so this guy went into a cabin. We’re not sure it’s #Dorner, and even if it is, we’re not sure he’s guilty. Let’s light it on fire!’”.

“#Dorner chased back into cabin when SO plan was to set fire??”, tweeted another user @eurekasue49.

Did you have any source for your assertion that it’s illegal for cops to set fire to the house other than your own truthiness, Killgore?

To me, it seems like an odd thing to believe. Cops can use a tank to smash through the side of it, they can shoot the shit out of it, they can throw flashbangs and tear gas and other things that have a possibility of setting it on fire, but they can’t actually set it on fire? It’s a free-standing building, they can cut off any gas supply to it from the outside. Setting fire to it seems ethically and tactically okay.

This conspiracy will stay around for a while. Dorner supporters will not accept that he himself is responsible for everything that happened and will look for any reason to blame the police.

I’m pretty sure the people who believe this stuff will continue to do so permanently. Just like the 9-11 truthers, it just takes a few media clips, out of context facts and anomolies is media coverage and the conspiracy nuts will stick to it forever.

Last night it was reported on CNN that “suspect attempted to leave the cabin and was driven back inside” (by hail of bullets). Since media was not allowed anywhere near the cabin, they were totally relying on what they were told by LE sources.

There were conflicting reports, such as “Suspect fired over 500 rounds” and “ammo dump ignited by fire” when it was impossible for Dorner to have carried that much ammo around while he was running through the woods.

This conspiracy will stay around for a while. Dorner supporters will not accept that he himself is responsible for everything that happened and will look for any reason to blame the police.

Dorner’s supporters - all twelve of them, can go fuck themselves. The fact that they have people (like yourself) watching them to see what they’ll do, say or…heaven forbid…tweet! is even more embarrassing to our phylum.

It’s possible that someone could construe the setting of a fire as excessive force. I’m sure someone will try to suggest that and bring up Waco or the MOVE debacle in Philly, but the difference between situations is that in the 1985 Philly incident cops not only used tear gas and fired what amounted to 10k rounds at the rowhouses where MOVE were holed up in an actual bunker but then dropped actual explosives on the bunker from a helicopter resulting in a fire that ended up engulfing the entire block and 9 died. Here in the Dorner case, cops didn’t drop an actual bomb on the cabin and appear to have used tear gas to force Dorner to exit the cabin.

Firing the tear gas isn’t excessive force considering all the facts and circumstances of what we know of Dorner. It was a nonlethal method of dealing with a serious threat.

A fire that was inadvertently set in the course of firing the tear gas isn’t excessive force. Letting the fire burn isn’t necessarily excessive force either considering the deadly threat posed by Dorner and that he’d already shot and killed cops and relatives of cops.

Some people trying to make hash of the situation by keying in on codewords for taking a tactical action (firing a tear gas canister - burner) isn’t really any different than the troofers who say that 7WTC was deliberately destroyed by keying on the FDNY “pulling” its guys out of the building. It’s a deliberate distortion of what happened.

I wouldn’t even have a problem if they did intentionally set the fire, nor do I think it would constitute excessive force. Dorner has had every chance to surrender. If setting fire to the house was considered a good tactical way to get him to get the fuck out of it, it’d represent an opportunity to take him alive, because there’s very, very little chance that if they stormed the house that they’d feel confident enough they had the drop on him to not immediately shoot when they saw him.

I’m convinced now that there’s always going to be a conspiracy for something no matter what. Now to find a bunch of CTers to help me explain why I don’t have a date for Valentines Day…………

There is a flat-earth society. I know one of them.

It’s when conspiracy theorists gain actual political power— like the GOP, which is basically a large accumulation of conspiracy theories— that they’re a problem. People saying dumb shit on twitter doesn’t cause an actual problem.

Given the circumstances, it seems like at least the best decision out of a list of bad decisions to try and get him.

As long as they were dead certain that house was empty besides Dorner himself.

I do wonder if they have specific guidelines in their ability to draw out a suspect who has taken sanctuary in a house/building. Can they set it on fire? Did they exhaust all options before making that decision (considering they were having a shootout with him, I’d say so)?

I’m sure somewhere an entrepreneurial civil liberties lawyer could find a legal ramification of going that route, but again, lesser of various evils and sacrificing more police officers in attempts to get him vs. just burning it down.

Part of it has to deal with trying to avoid screwing the passengers on the functioning ship (which will result in more refunds/comps) and part of it has to deal with the passenger loads and where to put those who are being displaced from the Triumph (it’s just not feasible). The Triumph is a larger ship than the Legend that first appeared on scene to assist. The ships carry just enough provisions for the cruise they’re on, so it’s not like they’ve got so much that they could transfer over either.

It’s when conspiracy theorists gain actual political power— like the GOP, which is basically a large accumulation of conspiracy theories— that they’re a problem. People saying dumb shit on twitter doesn’t cause an actual problem.

Yep, very true. There’s always going to be someone out there hollering and hollering that space aliens invented donuts to fatten humans up but you’re right, it’s when CTers have political power that they’re a problem because they have actual influence on policy.

I don’t think it was deliberately set afire. I’m thinking it was a combination of tear gas canisters setting combustibles on fire and that the building itself was a log cabin construction. Without any fire department moving in to fight the flames, the building was going to go up in flames. Withholding fire fighting is not a criminal act either under the circumstances where the shooter has already shown a willingness to attack law enforcement on multiple occasions.

Given the circumstances, it seems like at least the best decision out of a list of bad decisions to try and get him.

As long as they were dead certain that house was empty besides Dorner himself.

I do wonder if they have specific guidelines in their ability to draw out a suspect who has taken sanctuary in a house/building. Can they set it on fire? Did they exhaust all options before making that decision (considering they were having a shootout with him, I’d say so)?

I’m sure somewhere an entrepreneurial civil liberties lawyer could find a legal ramification of going that route, but again, lesser of various evils and sacrificing more police officers in attempts to get him vs. just burning it down.

From what it sounds like, they don’t even know if it was actually Dorner. I can only imagine the backlash/embarrassment the LEAs involved would suffer should he come out with a video taunting them, proving that he’s still alive and on the run.

It’s possible that someone could construe the setting of a fire as excessive force. I’m sure someone will try to suggest that and bring up Waco or the MOVE debacle in Philly, but the difference between situations is that in the 1985 Philly incident cops not only used tear gas and fired what amounted to 10k rounds at the rowhouses where MOVE were holed up in an actual bunker but then dropped actual explosives on the bunker from a helicopter resulting in a fire that ended up engulfing the entire block and 9 died. Here in the Dorner case, cops didn’t drop an actual bomb on the cabin and appear to have used tear gas to force Dorner to exit the cabin.

Firing the tear gas isn’t excessive force considering all the facts and circumstances of what we know of Dorner. It was a nonlethal method of dealing with a serious threat.

A fire that was inadvertently set in the course of firing the tear gas isn’t excessive force. Letting the fire burn isn’t necessarily excessive force either considering the deadly threat posed by Dorner and that he’d already shot and killed cops and relatives of cops.

Some people trying to make hash of the situation by keying in on codewords for taking a tactical action (firing a tear gas canister - burner) isn’t really any different than the troofers who say that 7WTC was deliberately destroyed by keying on the FDNY “pulling” its guys out of the building. It’s a deliberate distortion of what happened.

Not to mention the clusterfuck that occurred during the shootout with the Symbionese Liberation Army, when they did not even know of Patty Hearst was in the building or not.

I think they were really, really, really, really confident it was Dorner. They earlier pickup shootouts probably made for some intense morning meetings that involved telling everyone to stop going off half-cocked.

From what it sounds like, they don’t even know if it was actually Dorner. I can only imagine the backlash/embarrassment the LEAs involved would suffer should he come out with a video taunting them, proving that he’s still alive and on the run.

Not too embarrassing though. I don’t think the authorities have definitively stated it is (was) Dorner, only that the body has been taken to the morgue for ID
If it isn’t, then someone else died there that wasn’t exactly a “model citizen”

Considering the kinds of LEOs who were positioning themselves outside the cabin (and reported as SWAT forces), it’s entirely possible that the LEOs had infrared gear and/or remote control robots to see whether there were others in the building at the time.

Not too embarrassing though. I don’t think the authorities have definitively stated it is (was) Dorner, only that the body has been taken to the morgue for ID
If it isn’t, then someone else died there that wasn’t exactly a “model citizen”

In the initial day or two when the Dorner situation broke wasn’t there a hotel standoff that some initially thought was Dorner, but turned out to be another fugitive?

I don’t think it was deliberately set afire. I’m thinking it was a combination of tear gas canisters setting combustibles on fire and that the building itself was a log cabin construction. Without any fire department moving in to fight the flames, the building was going to go up in flames. Withholding fire fighting is not a criminal act either under the circumstances where the shooter has already shown a willingness to attack law enforcement on multiple occasions.

It was not wise to send the firefighters in so soon with all the ammo going off.

Not too embarrassing though. I don’t think the authorities have definitively stated it is (was) Dorner, only that the body has been taken to the morgue for ID
If it isn’t, then someone else died there that wasn’t exactly a “model citizen”

I heard they found his drivers license underneath the rubble of the cabin.

I think they were really, really, really, really confident it was Dorner. They earlier pickup shootouts probably made for some intense morning meetings that involved telling everyone to stop going off half-cocked.

I suspect colorful language may have been used.

I sure hope so. That we haven’t heard from this guy on FB/Twitter/YT after yesterday really does lead me to believe it was him. But the way the LEAs have handled this in the previous days still brings out the cynic in me.

I heard they found his drivers license underneath the rubble of the cabin.

hmmmm, I would assume he had his license on him (as opposed to placing it aside on a table or something) and if the body was burned beyond recognition I would imagine a piece of plastic (his license) would have melted

Not too embarrassing though. I don’t think the authorities have definitively stated it is (was) Dorner, only that the body has been taken to the morgue for ID
If it isn’t, then someone else died there that wasn’t exactly a “model citizen”

Yep, very true. There’s always going to be someone out there hollering and hollering that space aliens invented donuts to fatten humans up but you’re right, it’s when CTers have political power that they’re a problem because they have actual influence on policy.

To take a good example, climate change deniers are conspiracy theorists. They probably don’t think of themselves as such, but it’s what they are: they believe that 99% of the climatologists on earth, every scientific body, every major government on earth are either deliberately lying about global warming, or lying about the amount of scientific certitude we have that global warming exists.

Yet you’ll probably find global warming deniers mocking other people for being conspiracy theorists on other topics. Sometimes people don’t think things through, and so wind up being accidental conspiracy theorists.

To take a good example, climate change deniers are conspiracy theorists. They probably don’t think of themselves as such, but it’s what they are: they believe that 99% of the climatologists on earth, every scientific body, every major government on earth are either deliberately lying about global warming, or lying about the amount of scientific certitude we have that global warming exists.

Yet you’ll probably find global warming deniers mocking other people for being conspiracy theorists on other topics. Sometimes people don’t think things through, and so wind up being accidental conspiracy theorists.

hmmmm, I would assume he had his license on him (as opposed to placing it aside on a table or something) and if the body was burned beyond recognition I would imagine a piece of plastic (his license) would have melted

Investigators were picking through the rubble of a burned-out cabin in California’s San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, trying to piece together details of the violent last stand for a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer whose life apparently ended hours earlier in a barrage of bullets and blazing fire.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said charred human remains were found in the rubble where Christopher Dorner is said to have been cornered Tuesday. “We have reason to believe that it is him,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

A wallet with a California driver’s license bearing the name Christopher Dorner also was found, the Associated Press reported, citing a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation but declined to be named because of the ongoing probe.

To take a good example, climate change deniers are conspiracy theorists. They probably don’t think of themselves as such, but it’s what they are: they believe that 99% of the climatologists on earth, every scientific body, every major government on earth are either deliberately lying about global warming, or lying about the amount of scientific certitude we have that global warming exists.

Yet you’ll probably find global warming deniers mocking other people for being conspiracy theorists on other topics. Sometimes people don’t think things through, and so wind up being accidental conspiracy theorists.

Dorner’s supporters - all twelve of them, can go fuck themselves. The fact that they have people (like yourself) watching them to see what they’ll do, say or…heaven forbid…tweet! is even more embarrassing to our phylum.

Don’t like working the overnight shift. Just as it gets going here my eyelids start slamming shut

Hitting the hay soon

I feel you. I work a night shift job at a casino that typically either has me working from 2 am to somewhere between 10 am and 12 noon or 4 am to somewhere between 12 noon and 2ish.

Afternoon naps have become my friend. The hours aren’t ideal BUT it’s great having my afternoons free for appointments and such during the week and also being able to attend events in the evening so long as I take the aforementioned nap.

But maritime lawlessness isn’t confined to pirates. Thanks to a system of ship registration called “flags of convenience,” it is all too easy for unscrupulous ship owners to get away with criminal behavior. They have evaded prosecution for environmental damage like oil spills, as well as poor labor conditions, forcing crews to work like slaves without adequate pay or rest. But unlike piracy, which seems intractable, the appalling conditions on some merchant ships could be stopped.

Ships used to fly the flags of their nation. They were floating pieces of their home country on ungovernable seas, with all the advantages and disadvantages of government oversight: if things went wrong, seafarers were protected by their governments. If they did wrong, they could be punished.

But in the early 20th century, this began to change. Panama, seeking to attract American ships avoiding Prohibition laws, allowed non-Panamanians to fly its flag, for a fee. Liberia and other countries followed suit. Today these “open registries” are used by over 60 percent of shippers, up from 4 percent in the 1950s.

Under the flags of convenience system, registries have been divorced from government oversight. North Korea has a thriving registry, as does landlocked Mongolia. Liberia’s registry, the second-largest in the world, flourished even during a dozen years of civil war. Some registries allow ship owners to change the flags they’re registered under within 48 hours; some require little more than a signature or an online form from an owner. Many don’t require owners to disclose their identities at all.

I feel you. I work a night shift job at a casino that typically either has me working from 2 am to somewhere between 10 am and 12 noon or 4 am to somewhere between 12 noon and 2ish.

Afternoon naps have become my friend. The hours aren’t ideal BUT it’s great having my afternoons free for appointments and such during the week and also being able to attend events in the evening so long as I take the aforementioned nap.

I used to make the transition from day>nights>days easier. Would take about a week to adjust my body clock (we typically do 3 or 4 months of days followed by the same of overnights)

Now that I’m aged, it takes forever to adjust, and just as I do, it’s back to the other shift!
{sigh}

Memo to idiot client: Tying the hands of my project manager then getting pissed off at her for not managing your project is a dick move. It’s like hiring a chef then getting pissed off at him because you didn’t give him a kitchen and utensils to work with.

““If the wallet did burn I do believe that it’s the first time in history that fire has ever burned a wallet. I do believe that it defies physics that the cabin which burned in on itself—it is impossible for a cabin to burn a wallet without explosives being involved. It would be the first time in history a wallet was burned by fire. It is physically impossible.”

Thanks…I know he’s “only posting links” and isn’t really a gore-whore himself (he just likes following gore-whores to see what they’ll say next), but looking for a major conspiracy in a local law enforcement incident is just silly.

Carnival’s just glad that the ship still floats. Passenger comfort takes a back seat, and they’ll hang their hat on the fact that the fire suppression systems worked as they should to prevent a bigger catastrophe.

It doesn’t mean that the cruise ship industry should breath a sigh of relief. It just highlights that the cruise ships can and do have big problems when the main power systems go down and the backups really don’t have the capacity to handle the loads (literally and figuratively).

And how to get them to address that problem is something that the IMO will have to address.

It doesn’t mean that the cruise ship industry should breath a sigh of relief. It just highlights that the cruise ships can and do have big problems when the main power systems go down and the backups really don’t have the capacity to handle the loads (literally and figuratively).

Turns out shit goes sour when non-revenue tonnage is cut to the absolute bone to add another deck of luxury cabins, to the substantial detriment of passenger safety and comfort when things go wrong.

Mice can do extraordinary damage in the engine compartment of your car. I had made an appointment to get my oil changed at the dealership this morning and on the way there smoke started rolling out from under the hood. Fortunately I was only about a mile away from the dealership,but by the time I got there, there was no coolant left in the car. The early damage assessment is as follows:
Coolant line-chewed,coolant tank-chewed,firewall-chewed,fuel line-almost chewed through,top of one of the struts(plastic cap part)-chewed,battery insulation-chewed,wiring harness-partially chewed. And that’s just what can be seen without taking more of it apart. State Farm says I’m covered, but I won’t know for sure til an adjuster looks at it. What’s not covered is a freaking rental car, so I am sans wheels for at least a week.

The shop supervisor told me that placing moth balls inside the engine compartment will keep them away and to place some in a dish under the engine on the garage floor. I am scared to know how much this is going to end up costing, the mechanic working on my car said he had one come in last winter with nearly 10K of rodent damage and insurance wouldn’t cover it.

Why aren’t the kidz at Tiger Beat On The Potomac ever at my poker table? Why don’t they come to my door every day to buy some magic beans? These cats ‘n kittens will buy almost anything. Take, for example, today’s extended rehabilitation of the unfortunate Marco Rubio, who went on TV without his stillsuit yesterday, but in whom Jonathan Martin sees the future Kwisatz Haderach anyway.

Rubio really is just another typical Republican. And honestly I am sick of him equating President Obama’s policies with Fidel Castro’s when he invokes his own parents’ story. And from what I understand the elder Rubios emigrated before Castro took power.

Shit the Constitution was written in the first place because the Articles of Confederation was too weak. The founders didn’t like the government being too big or more importantly too distant (see the British parliament) but they didn’t oppose a functioning government. But yeah let’s act like the Founders wanted us to have unregulated gun ownership and would think it would be liberty for a fraction of the people to own an overwhelming majority of the guns.

Because a man who praises Jon Huntsman, George H.W and W. Bush in his writings is a progressive? And yes I know he praised Obama and I believe Clinton too but the idea of Dormer as a leftist or even progressive is laughable as fuck. And you know what even if he was, the idea that this “rproves” progressive violence is so laughable considering all the right wing nutjobs who have targeted people over the past few years. Not least of all Brevik, who many of them actually sympathize with.

False report on Feb 7 about Dorner being sited at a hotel in San Diego. Nothing with that story indicating that it was anything more than a false report; e.g. not another criminal/fugative mistakenly thought to be Dorner.

Meanwhile, all these elected Republicans go out of their way to ensure that every avenue that led to their success — student loans, government programs, etc. — are denied to anyone else.

It’s hypocrisy of the highest order.

Yeah, and don’t you just love Rick Santorum, he of the BA, MA, and law degree putting down university level education? All of those schools were public ones as well. Really, it’s this that drives me nuts about elected Republicans. Many of them benefited directly from the same programs they want to weaken or destroy for people in my generation but they will tell you non stop about how student loans and stuff helped them out. Shit look at Paul Ryan the Ayn Rand fan who had his father’s social security benefits help pay for his college education. I don’t begrudge him at all for doing it but I do have a problem with the rank hypocrisy of it all.

Mice can do extraordinary damage in the engine compartment of your car. I had made an appointment to get my oil changed at the dealership this morning and on the way there smoke started rolling out from under the hood. Fortunately I was only about a mile away from the dealership,but by the time I got there, there was no coolant left in the car. The early damage assessment is as follows:
Coolant line-chewed,coolant tank-chewed,firewall-chewed,fuel line-almost chewed through,top of one of the struts(plastic cap part)-chewed,battery insulation-chewed,wiring harness-partially chewed. And that’s just what can be seen without taking more of it apart. State Farm says I’m covered, but I won’t know for sure til an adjuster looks at it. What’s not covered is a freaking rental car, so I am sans wheels for at least a week.

The shop supervisor told me that placing moth balls inside the engine compartment will keep them away and to place some in a dish under the engine on the garage floor. I am scared to know how much this is going to end up costing, the mechanic working on my car said he had one come in last winter with nearly 10K of rodent damage and insurance wouldn’t cover it.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A member of the University of Pennsylvania’s 1979 Final Four team was fatally stabbed by his wife, who told police she had caught him looking at child pornography, according to court documents.

Matthew White was found stabbed in the neck around 12:45 p.m. Monday in bed at his home, police said, and was pronounced dead a short time later. An officer responding to the home for a report of a stabbing found White’s wife, Maria Rey Garcia-Pellon, as she pulled into the driveway, authorities said. As she was being taken into custody, according to a police affidavit, she said, “I caught him looking at pornography, young girls. I love kids. I had to do it.”

OK,I hear this number (40-60 million, depending on the wingnut) all the time from anti-choicers. Where is that statistic from? Do doctors report every abortion to some sort of data gathering body? Would that number include spontaneous abortions too?

CATO fail: Ignores that the President mentioned border security and that the number of border security guards exceeds the 20,000 level he set. Reduces illegal crossing to lowest levels in 40 years.

And I don’t think 60,000 dead across the border is a security threat to the US. Even if it is, as some say, more like 80,000. CATO’s problem with it is probably the billions we’re spending there to upgrade Mexico’s justice system and help them fight the cartels.

And I don’t think 60,000 dead across the border is a security threat to the US. Even if it is, as some say, more like 80,000. CATO’s problem with it is probably the billions we’re spending there to upgrade Mexico’s justice system and help them fight the cartels.

OK,I hear this number (40-60 million, depending on the wingnut) all the time from anti-choicers. Where is that statistic from? Do doctors report every abortion to some sort of data gathering body? Would that number include spontaneous abortions too?

Wingnuts have a whole bunch of “numbers” that they accept on faith, such as: “11,629 people added to Food Stamps EVERY SINGLE DAY.” This just seemed so weirdly specific that I Googled it and one of the first sites to come up was Stormfront.

Sadly he’s been toned down and last I saw he rarely ever has his guns on him. It’s also rare to see a road runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon given how “violent” they are. The only way to get good Looney Toons cartoons anymore is to buy the collections.

Sadly he’s been toned down and last I saw he rarely ever has his guns on him. It’s also rare to see a road runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon given how “violent” they are. The only way to get good Looney Toons cartoons anymore is to buy the collections.

Sadly he’s been toned down and last I saw he rarely ever has his guns on him. It’s also rare to see a road runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon given how “violent” they are. The only way to get good Looney Toons cartoons anymore is to buy the collections.

Sadly he’s been toned down and last I saw he rarely ever has his guns on him. It’s also rare to see a road runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon given how “violent” they are. The only way to get good Looney Toons cartoons anymore is to buy the collections.

Yea, they censored everything after making the connection between Bugs Bunny and consumption of sleeping pills. As well as the sudden increase in hunting accidents on the day that rabbit season turned into duck season without any overlap.
;)

Sadly he’s been toned down and last I saw he rarely ever has his guns on him. It’s also rare to see a road runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon given how “violent” they are. The only way to get good Looney Toons cartoons anymore is to buy the collections.

All the good ones were made before 1955 anyway. Are any of those still broadcast on TV?

And if he had mentioned him, people like this guy would be accusing POTUS of “exploiting Kyle’s death for political reasons.” Really, it’s a State of the Union address, not “name everything that’s happened in the past 2 months” speech.

Last night it was reported on CNN that “suspect attempted to leave the cabin and was driven back inside” (by hail of bullets). Since media was not allowed anywhere near the cabin, they were totally relying on what they were told by LE sources.

There were conflicting reports, such as “Suspect fired over 500 rounds” and “ammo dump ignited by fire” when it was impossible for Dorner to have carried that much ammo around while he was running through the woods.

Seems to me that it’s fair to think the police started the fire, given the tear gas grenades. Which of course is supposed to drive a suspect out making a fire a moot point. Unless that thing lands in a bathtub, it will probably start a fire. Conspiracy? Laughable. A gunman that dangerous is going to get maximum force for safety of everyone around. I guess this tape will so into the same crappy blogs that already have the Davidian video and bs. Ruby Ridge etc.

During the Miami riots, the Miami PD started a lot of the fires which burned out businesses in the riot area, by throwing tear gas grenades into the buildings.

How do I know this?

Because I knew them and they bragged about doing it.

It was, “hey, look! These things get so hot they will start a fire.”

So then they drove around throwing tear gas canisters into buildings in areas where no riot action was taking place for amusement. Cop humor, because they knew that the rioters would get blamed for all the fires.